Clinical Chemistry Blog Notes 21E: Sankarea: Poisons poisons poisons .. yummy!

Ok you guys might be wondering why I used this anime’s image as my intro, well its simple.

Let’s start with the anime entitled “Sankarea”, there was this boy named Furuya who has a fetish with zombie girls and different zombie stuff. Then when his cat “Bubu” dies, Furuya started to conduct an experiment to revive his dead cat by the use of an ancient book he bought from an Occult Shop. The resurrection was good at first, watch the Anime to know more!

Now let's shed some light on the image, as you can see there a girl who’s eating a Leaf right? Actually that leaf is a poisonous plant named “Hydrangea” he used this plants extracts to create a potion that will revive a dead person. The girl, with Furuya's help, willingly became a zombie after family issues.

Then what’s Toxicology?

In simple terms it, “It’s the study of how any substance we take in our body can affect us in a good or bad way ”,

However, i see it as the study of toxin/poisons and their different function, uses, action and treatments that they may aid in our daily living. It’s also use for detection of poison.

Off to the learning part, LETS HAVE A QUIZ!
(no cheating I won’t tell you that the answers are at the bottom part of the quiz)

1. What do Teratogens do?

a. Gives you chills c. Cause malformation of the fetus

b. Cure for Fever d. I don’t care

2. What is a Toxicant?

a. A substance capable of producing toxic c. It’s a Toxic Ant

b. Kind of plant d. What’s makes you H*rney

3. Where do Toxins comes from?

a. From microorganisms c. From Animal s

b. From plants d. All of the above

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.Ohh..
.we got answers here.. :)
.
.
.
.
.
Answer Key:
1. C
2. A
3. D

0, 1, 2 points only? oh you..
Perfect? nah you just lucky I made it easy for you be thankful.
You cheated? well GOOD JOB! hah

Ok done with that, those are the 3 T-words you have to remember, Teratogen, Toxicant, and Toxin.

Teratogen - Any substance that are capable of causing malformation to the fetus during development stage.
- Thaliomide

Toxicant - A toxic producing substance that causes toxic effect on living organism at a sufficient concentration.

Toxin - Produce by any living organism (microbe, plant and animal..)

XenoBiotic

It's the term use for human-made substance that are not naturally exist in nature.
example of these are: agricultural pesticide

Now to the
Types of Toxicology
Now there are 5 types of toxicology namely:

Mechanistic
Descriptive
Regulatory
Forensic
Clinical

Image Credit

Starting with
Mechanistic Toxicology

Its focuses on the specific chemical, biochemical and molecular mechanism to which toxicant has their effects.

Factors may affect the effect of exposure of these toxin:

Size of the Molecule
Type of Tissue
Cellular components
Substance that is dissolved in water or fatty tissue

Image Credit

Descriptive Toxicology
Here they test the toxic potential of different agents to be characterized in an array of programs/systems. And it also provides information for safety and regulatory req.

Image Credit

Regulatory Toxicology

Data that are from mechanistic and descriptive toxicology are translated into policies. Its a decision-making process concerning the uses and applications of these chemicals in the society, limits are made for the safety of the people. “Regulatory toxicology is the primary basis for laws that limit exposures for people and for the environment.” (RT)